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Cards’ La Russa turns in incorrect lineup card

July 9th, 2011 by Ric Hanson

ST. LOUIS (AP) – St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa mistakenly turned in a lineup card with the wrong catcher on it Friday night, burning All-Star Yadier Molina from his bench. La Russa had planned on giving Molina a day off and starting Gerald Laird, who was activated off the 15-day disabled list earlier in the week, but the lineup card he submitted to umpires had Molina playing.

After the top half of the first inning, Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson notified umpires, and the result was that Molina had been substituted for. La Russa said Saturday he’d been distracted when writing out the card but that there was no excuse.